Chris Mullin (politician)

Before chairing anything, Mullin's journalism and campaigning helped free the Birmingham Six. As chair of the Home Affairs Committee from 1997 to 1999 and again in 2001 to 2003 he led inquiries into freemasonry in the police and judiciary, leading to a register of membership for new judges, and into drugs policy, whose 2002 report recommended reclassifying cannabis and more treatment. His diaries are among the best accounts of what a backbencher's scrutiny work involves.